Latter Day Sinner

If you are reading my blog you probably already know I am a Mormon. I am also a US citizen in that order. Kind of like the Apostle Paul was a Christian first and a Roman citizen second. And as Paul admitted that he was in no way the equal of Jesus Christ, I admit I am no equal to Joseph Smith Jr. That is probably a good thing. I wish to avoid Brother Joseph’s fate. For those of you who don’t know the story, a little newspaper in Smith’s city Navoo tried to print scandalous but true accusations about the early church. It also tried to make the case that Smith was a traitor to the State of Illinois and to the United States. Smith had the printing press and all the copies of the paper burned. Obviously that was not a good way to counter an accusation of treason. He was arrested and taken to a jail in Carthage Illinois to await trial for treason. He maintained his innocence and in this country a man is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. But he never got that trial. He was murdered in that jail by people who were convinced he was a traitor and wanted “justice” served without any formality. These simple truths play into my politics as a US citizen. The founders of the USA committed treason against the British crown. Ever since then Americans have been accusing each other of being traitors. It’s happening right now as I type. The left thinks conservatives are traitors. The right thinks progressives are traitors. Everyone wants someone on the opposite side hung for treason. But the Founders beat the British crown and are heroes here not traitors. So the moral of the story is that it isn’t treason until you lose the trial. I hope everyone accused of being a traitor gets their day in court.